Prepare To Drop: No Man Left Behind
by AlexAndLara
Summary: Spartans kick ass... but ODST'S do it with style. Follow Adam Dedorian as he embarks for a drop mission gone wrong. Along with his five squad members and a Smart A.I., Geo, Adam must find out what the covenant are up to in 2555.
1. Chapter 1

"Alright ladies, load up, and prepare to drop! " barked General Torri over the intercom. "Spartans kick ass..."

"But ODST'S do it in style!" Yelled the six Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, each one doing individual work, such as leading up their magazines with ammunition, or double - checking their drop pods. General Torri entered the small, circular launch bay with his white cap and emblem sparkling.

"That's what I like to hear!" His stern voice rose above the small chatter. "Has Bishop given you all the Intel of this mission, or am I supplying the details?"

"Sir," I stood up from the small bench in the corner of the room. "Bishop was... decommissioned after out last drop." Bishop was the squad leader of the seven of us, but was K.I.A. When a brute ambushed our squad on our way to a covenant relay point, a needler shooting straight through his helmet, exiting the other side.

"Ah... I see." Torri replied. "You'll be jumping into a small rural town off the coast of Des Lake. There had been sightings of covenant cruisers circling the area, shooting down the radio transmitters. The town was shortly cut off from radio contact after an S.O.S. your mission is simple; scout the area and report what you find. Only ingage small forces, no more than ten covvies at once. Check or hold?"

"Check!" Replied the ODST'S, standing eagerly by their respective pods, hanging loosely in the shuttle.

"Than I give you permission to drop into hell! Good luck, men! Dismissed!" With a wave of his hand, the ODST'S dispersed into their pods. I sat back into the banded seating and did a double check on my gear: a fully automatic MA-5 Sub Machine gun equipped with a flashlight and grip, two frag grenades, and six extra clips of ammo. I grabbed my helmet that sat in my lap- a perfectly symmetric piece of art, with a clear visor and and a dark green stripe going down the center of it. I slowly flipped it around and put it on my head, and instantly my HUD came into view. I tapped my keyboard as the pods door closed and sealed, and the drop pod slowly started to turn right.

"Prepare to drop." Said a flickering image on the left port screen. The image was fuzzy, and I couldn't make out which squad member it was. "Three, two, one... launch." I pulled back the joystick, ready to drop feet - first into hell.

***Thank you for reading the first chapter to my new story! I'll go more in - depth with the characters and the missions Wil get more exciting later on in the story. Bye!***


	2. Chapter 2

I watched as the clouds zipped by past the window of my pod. On my descent I could see five other identical drop ships, circling towards the ground. This was when the bottom of the pods started to burn during reentry into the atmosphere. The pod shook around as the air resisted the pods movements.

"Alright Helljumpers, we're headed straight into a hot zone. Expect heavy resistance from Covenant forces on the way down." Crackled in my radio. The blurry image of Avery Johnson covered the console. "They must love the smell of green!" Avery had been a part of every major faction of the UNSC: He started out as a marine, then moved up to working as an ONI operative later in the war before qualifying for the ODST'S. He was even a Longsword pilot at one point. "Give 'em hell down there!" He chided one last time before we broke through the lowest cloud level, Revealing the Des Lake. The green grass and forested town was visible only by a small amount. I held my breath as I did every time we made drops. It was a habit ever since an incident at the Corbulo Military Academy when my training pod broke through the Stage and fell directly into the water reservoir.

"The loud crash and blurred of my vision confirmed I hit the ground. A covenant cruiser could be seen off in the distance firing plasma canons on a different city. I hit the green dot on top of the pods door as a burst of air pushed it open. I got out on my shaky legs and quickly grabbed my MA-5 SMG and switched the safety off. Instant a bolt of plasma had hit my pod. I quickly rushed over to a nearby tree as two more drop pods landed on my right, one of them squashing a grunt. Nasty little buggers. I always hated grunts, and I didn't know why. Sure, the Elites were pretty scary... but I can't handle that weird barking thing the Grunts do whenever they first see you.

"The pod on the right opened up first, and out came Dante Betula, wielding a SM-65 Sniper Rifle, and a .45 Magnum aimed at a second grunt, who was shot down by three bullets to the chest. Dante's armor glinted in the small amount of sunlight that poured out between the holes in the clouds. He wore standard black armor, with a yellow stripe around his arm and on the center of his helmet. His armor wasn't very unique... only a small knife pouch that stuck out from his smooth chest piece. I guess my armor wasn't very different. Just a green stripe on the helmet and shoulder pad, and a small visor protector that covered up a small amount of the stripe.

"We're twenty meters off course!" He yelled, pointing to a Ridgeline that overlooked the entire settlement. "Think you can cover me?" He asked as the second pod opened up. Benjamin Shoemaker jumped out of his pod and took cover behind a nearby house, it's structure filled with holes. Benjamin, or Benji as we all call him, had green tinted armor with a blue stripe on his head. He held a Mossburg 500 Shotgun in his hands and discharged the weapon into an incoming Jackal, destroying it's shields. He pulled out his small knife from his boot and jabbed the thin creature in the eye, dropping it to the ground.

"We'll try... just take plenty of cover and you should be fine." Dante holstered his pistol and tipped an invisible hat at us.

"I'll get you sniper support as soon as possible!" He yelled as he climbed up the small hill.

"Adam!" Benji yelled from across the building. "Move up and take down that Elite!" He barked.

"Where?" I asked. "I don't see any Elites." Benji pointed at the house across the street. The white paint was beeping off, and a corner of it was destroyed.

"In the building." He confirmed as he darted across the street and sat next to the door. "Breach and clear!" He yelled as I ran up beside Benji. He used his shotgun to shoot a hole though the doorknob, kicking open the door. I headed in and switched on my flashlight. I checked left, and a small living room was sprawled around. On my right, with sunlight bleeding through the hole in the wall, was a dining room. A Marine sat on the broken dining table. I lowered my gun and ran up, checking for a pulse. There was none.

"I grabbed his dog tags and yanked them off, stuffing them into my pocket. A rustle of rubble sent me aiming my SMG into a small hallway that branched off of the dining room. The second the light from an energy sword sprawled out in front of me, I started shooting into the darkness. My muzzle flash lit up the room, and I could vaguely see the outline of the tall creature as he started to close in on me. He swiped on my left, but o parried and hit his knee with the stock of my gun. He swung again, just barely missing my arm by an inch. He screamed with rage as I emptied a second magazine into his shields until they finally broke. I unloading the clip and added another one. But the Elite grabbed me by the neck and held me up, knocking the gun out of my hand. His incoherent language hurt my ears as my comms crackled to life.

"Oh shit!" Yelled Dante as a bullet flew past my head, hitting the Elite straight in the neck. He flew back in recoil and dropped me to the ground as I tried to inhale as much oxygen as possible. The Elite was slumped over a small table in the corner of the room, blood oozing down the wall and dripping off the table.

"Thanks." I breathed as I got up and grabbed my SMG that hung next to the Marines body.

"Don't mention it. But you gotta get outside now. There is a phantom overhead and it's about to fire at the house!"


	3. Chapter 3

A faint hovering sound washed over the building. The sunlight was blocked as a large purple aperatus loomed overhead, it's gigantic canon aiming directly at me.

"Get outta there, now!" Dante called. Before I even had a chance to react, Benji pulled me aside just as the plasma canon fired, setting the dining room off into sparks.

"Thanks." I breathed as I straightened my helmet. Three more shots came from above and the house's superstructure was starting to crumble. If we went out of the house, there wouldn't be enough cover to block us from the Phantom above us. But if we stayed in the house, we'd get flattened by the debris. "I've got a plan." I said as I pointed towards the light green house across the street. "We move up, house by house. Clear the rooms and make our way down to the other three." I said. I had no idea where the three other ODST'S were at the moment, but there was a small square southeast of here about fourth meters away... Our objective.

"Sounds like a plan." Dante called. "I'll give you support."

"Three..." Benji started. "Two..." I braced myself to dart out of the building as another blast from the Phantom blew through the living room. "One!" I headed out the door frame at full speed, with Benji close behind. A sniper bullet hit the tree in front of us, a grunt falling down besides it. I unloaded six bullets into a jackals shield before sticking the butt of my gun into its misshapen face.

"Left!" Benji called. I drew my sidearm and fired off two shots. One hit the grunt in the chest, the other in the Grunts face. The Canon on the Phantom was aiming at us just as we broke through the door to the second house.

"There's one more house before you'll be left without cover." Dante added. "We could use Bishop right about now."

Benji took off his helmet and set his shotgun on the wall. He had a blond buzz cut and and a small scar under his left eye, his soft blue eyes darting back and forth. "We ain't done yet."

"That phantom doesn't look like it's going anywhere soon." I commented.

"Get the general on the comm. Well ask for an ordinance."

"You know that's only used for-"

"Emergencies!" Benji cut Dante off. "I think this classifies as an emergency." There was a long pause before Dante patched general Torri through the public comm.

"What is it, soldier?" His stern voice rose above the blasts from the phantom.

"We've got a problem. Covenant phantom won't bug out, and we need somethin' big."

"Sounds doable. I'll send in a pelican run as soon as possible. Out."

"Roger, sir." Benji finished as Torri extinguished the conversation. "Let's try and head for that last house."

"One sec, guys..." Dante muffled. "This Ridgeline can't see everything. Changing positions." Benji and I sat in the living room for a hot minute before finally readying himself.

"Go!" I yelled as we darted back out into the open. Plasma pistols shot green molten bursts all over the place. Grunts definitely weren't the best shot. We kicked in the door to the last house just as the roar of engines flowed over the mountainous terrain in the backround. Three pelicans flew overhead at the speed of a jet, unleashing their front mini guns and firing a slave of rockets into the Phantom. As soon as it's shields went down, the purple cruiser blew up into a million pieces.

"You're all clear, soldiers. Happy hunting." Said one of the pelican pilots, the radar of the engines disappearing as soon as they appeared.

"Let's get to that objective and meet up with the others." Benji said as Dante entered the house, reloading his rifle. "Let's move, Helljumpers."


	4. Chapter 4

Two jackals and an elite later, we made it to the objective just as a pelican rolled in over the hills. It's fuselage was a solid green with UNSC printed on the side of it. In the small cargo area, just outside of where the troop transports would stay, was a Worthog, one of the most thoroughly used vehicles throughout the entire UNSC. Whether the Worthog was a default chaingun type or an amplified Gauss turret, I couldn't tell.

"Moving in on position. Stand by." A sharp female voice crackled over the comms. By sound of it, I could guess it was none other than Valerie Gibson. As I thought that, the iconic red tinted armor and blue stripes of the ODST made her way over the hill to my right, aiming down her DMR. Her petite figure blocked out the sun, it was just low enough to be covered by her helmet. There was a small heart on the side of her chest piece.

"Glad you could make it," Yelled Dante, giving a fist bump to Benji.

"Johnson and Valdez will be here in a moment. They're busy taking care of a small dispute with the natives." Val took off her helmet to release flowing blond hair and pale skin. She still had tanning marks from her time having to deal with a regular marines helmet on the battlefield after hers was destroyed.

"You let Johnson handle that? The bastard would probably shoot up everything that moves." I commented, wiping off dust on my gun.

"He insisted." Val said as she shrugged. "Where's the next objective?" Dante pointed to the left. "South. A but bigger then than this, called Jericho. Some odd phenomena going down there."

"Let's get moving." Benji added. "Tell Johnson and Company to meet us at Jericho." Val nodded her head and switch to a private chat with the two missing squad members.

"Ever get the feeling that were being watched?" Benji asked me, sighing heavily. "I don't want to end up like Bishop."

"You aren't." I whispered. "That was a miscalculated error, and it won't happen again." As I finished, Val turned around to face us.

"Let's get going, the sun will be down soon."


	5. Chapter 5

The Pelican finally arrived, and dropped down the Worthog down in front up us. The Worthog sent mud flying everywhere when it landed.

"Uh, minor problem." I noted. "There's three seats... and there are four of us."

"Should we let Dante stay up here and shoot down the bad guys while we head in with the gauss?" Asked Val.

"No," commented Dante. "The town is too far away. My bullets won't do much from up here."

"Just sit on the back next to the gauss."

"That'll limit the amount of area the gun could fire at, with Dante in the way."

"Benji, you drive." I said sternly. "Val, get on the gauss. Dante can get in the passenger seat."

"Where are you gonna go, Adam?" Questioned Val as she stuck her DMR onto her back. Benji and Dante did the same as they climbed in the vehicle.

"I've got an idea..."

_Five minutes later..._

"This was a terrible idea!" I yelled as hung on to the bumper of the Worthog for dear life. The drop as almost a cliff, and we were zooming down the pathway.

"Watch the trees!" Val yelled as a branch whacked her helmet.

"Who let Benji drive?" Dante cried.

I was hanging off of the back, right under Val who sat trying to keep my on the Worthog and aim down the gauss canon at the same time. We nearly crashed into a giant tree, but Benji whiplashed left and nearly threw me off the Worthog.

"Shoot!" Dante order, pointing off somewhere in front of us.

"I've got it, I've got it!" The Canon charged up in less than a second and discharged with a loud thundering boom. Another four or five seconds passed before another bolt was fired out of the gauss.

"What the hell?" Benji commented. "General, we need Pelican support. Now!"

"What is, Soldier?" Asked general Torri from the comm.

"Sir..." Val said, charging up the gauss. "The covvies just dropped a scarab into Jericho."


	6. Chapter 6

There was a long pause before the General replied. "I'll send in the last two available pelicans to help with the scarab. Torri out." The radio clicked off, and Benji turned the Jeep. I was finally able to see Jericho... A small town only slightly bigger than the one we were in before this. A giant spider looking mechanical weapon was firing a large green blast into a few houses, sparking fires all over the town.

"Get Valdez and Johnson on the line." Benji ordered. Two small green dots in the distance hovered overhead, and in seconds, the dots became flying death machines. The Pelicans got low to the ground, matching the worthog's speed.

"We've got your back, Echo squad." The pilot chided.

"I can't!" Yelled Val. "They aren't answering their comms." Valerie shot two more shots from the canon. "Maybe we shoul-" She was stopped mid sentence by Dante.

"Look out!" I stared over at the scarab, it's green canon on its back charging up. It was aiming directly at us.

"Jump out!" Yelled Benji as he Dove out of the drivers seat. Val did the same, but before I was able to hop off, the laser fired at the pelican above us. The Pelican on the right managed to escape the beam, but the left one was unfortunate enough to get a direct blast from the laser, completely destroying the back engine. It flew in jagged patterns, trying to stay in the air. But the pelican finally gave up, and fell out of the sky.

Directly into the Worthog.


	7. Chapter 7

I woke up groggily, my hearing muffled and my vision blurred. My helmet's visor was cracked on the right side, the cracks in the glass looking like a spiderweb, and the scarab was the spider. They sky was blood red... at least I hadn't been out for too long. The glow from the fire of the Worthog and Pelican crash lit up the night. I surveyed my surroundings. The Worthog was laying on my left, propping up the Pelican crash. I would've been squashed if the Worthog hadn't rolled under the Pelican. Mud caked my armor.

"Shoot for the legs!" A voice cried in my earpiece.

"It'll hit!" Yelled another. I flipped over and pushed off of the ground, raising myself to my feet. I picked up a shotgun off of the ground... Benji's gun. Blood covered the ground. I slowly made my way through the rubble and emerged on the other side.

"Don't worry, guys. We found Adam." A female voice said. I turned around and met Valdez and Johnson, aiming around the perimeter looking for something to shoot. Valdez had probably the most generic armor of us all - simple black armor, all of the basic armor sets, and a dark blue visor. She didn't customize her outfit at all. The only thing that wasn't standard issue on her armor was the flashlight that sat on the right side of her helmet. She was welding a GD Assault Rifle.

"You alright, son?" Asked Avery. Avery had a green camo armor tint. He wasn't too fond of wearing the ODST helmet, so he wore a military cap that matched his armor color. He had a specially made sling on his back to carry his Helmet through battle with him. His thin black beard covered the bottom half of his face. Some people say he even met Spartan 117, the most renowned soldier in history.

"I'm fine I guess. Where are the others?" I asked.

"Downhill. They're trying to bring down that Damned scarab with only one pelican. I think they're plain crazy." He checked the clip of his assault rifle before moving down the slope. "They're gonna need all the help they can get." I looked back up at the sky. I realized it was in the middle of the night - but the fire from Jericho lit up the sky. There was literally so much destruction it looked like sunrise.

We headed towards the sound of gunfire and plasma guns. The second we erupted onto the field, the three of us took cover alongside Dante and Val. Valerie was dressing a wound on Dante's right arm. His helmet was off, laying beside him, revealing his cropped hair and scruffy beard. His hair was blond with a small amount of black in his beard.

"Nice of you to join us." Said Val. "We hit the scarab hard... it's badly damaged. But we can't get anyone into that thing without getting killed."

"Where's Benjamin?" Asked Valdez. Her first name was Miranda, but she wasn't too fond of us calling her that.

"He's in the sewer system, trying to get rid of the Grunts hiding down their. Poor bastard." The entirety of Echo squad was here besides Benji.

"Cover me." I said as I switched my shotgun with a DMR from a gun locker behind the sandbags. "I've got an idea."


	8. Chapter 8

The only pelican in the sky was unleashing a volley of bullets into the scarab, but it wasn't even making a dent. The bullets harmlessly off of its purple shell. The large canon started to charge up, calculating the pelicans movements precisely. Luckily, the pelican managed to dodge the large green beam of light within inches.

"What are you planning on doing?!" Cried Valdez.

"I need someone to distract the scarab while the pelican flies away. Use the gun crate to fire off bullets and grab it's attention." I said into my helmet's mic.

"Why is the pelican going to leave? We need all the support we can get, soldier!" Johnson added.

"Trust me!" I yelled. "We can't get the pelican to get behind the scarab unless the scarab can't move. So, we're going to make sure it can't."

"This better work..." Said the pot of the Pelican as he flew off into the distance.

"Charges set." Said Val. "I could use some help moving Dante."

"Give 'em to me." Johnson replied. I kept rushing forward towards the scarab. The timing needed to be perfect for this to work. I raced under the scarab. It's gray underbelly shone from the various lights scattered around the center of the town.

"Matt me under the scarab. Quick! It can't get us down here." One after another, the six of them filed in under the rounded scarab, still trying to bring down the pelican that was long gone. "Set off the charges, now!" I yelled into my mic. Val pressed a C4 detonator and the weapon rack went up in flames. The explosion caused the bullets in the ammo crate to fly all over the battlefield. The hissing of bullets passing by filled the air. It was obnoxiously loud, almost so loud my eardrums began to ring. The large purple midsection of the scarab slowly turned around, facing the barrage of bullets. The infamous sound of the large canon on its back started up, probably aiming at the ammo crate.

"Plant the last of your C4 charges on the un armored area on its legs!" I said as I placed three sticks of the explosive on the right leg. The Canon blasted at the ground in front of us.

"Charge set." Benji stated.

"The C4 is planted," replied Johnson.

"The last leg Is rigged up." Said Valdez.

"Take cover, Helljumpers!" I yelled as I ducked down in the center of the scarab. The others did the same and the charges blew. Simultaneously, the legs all went into critical mode and the scarab lowered itself as the workers inside frantically tried to repair it.

"Pelican one, do a strafe run over the scarab. It's wide open." I said as I got up from my spot on the ground and ran out from under it. The roar of the pelican came from behind the scarab. The back area where the plasma core hung was wide open. The scarab couldn't move to stop it's enevitable death. The Pelicans chaingun started up and pulverized the engine, taking the whole scarab down into critical mode.

"Run!" I yelled as I took off from the scarab, trying to get as far away from the time bomb as possible. The Echo of its warning sound blared into the night as the pelican lowered to the ground and the back access hatch opened up. I ran in first, followed by Johnson, then Val, then Benji, and finally Valdez who was carrying Dante on her back.

"Get us outta here!" Benji yelled as we took off from the blast zone just in time. The night sky was lit up by purples and blues, the loud blast echoing throughout the countryside.

"We didn't grab any data for ONI." Dante said as Valdez dressed his wounds.

"Not exactly." Benji said as he held up a small piece of Alienware. It was the shape of a sphere with multiple glowing dots.

"Where'd you get that?" Valerie asked.

"Just something I picked up from the phantom crash, a few meters from the scarab. I thought I might as well take a look while I was hiding behind it for cover." I sat down in one of the seats.

"Good job." I said blankly as the Pelican flew off into space, with Jericho smoking in the backround.


	9. Chapter 9

I itched my shaved head as I headed over to my squads table. I was in light gray mesh pants with a black stripe, and a green shirt with the UNSC logo on the chest. I carried my dinner to the small round table along with Valdez and Benji. Val was still in the food line, Johnson was busy speaking to the Admiral in the corner of the room, and Dante was in the infirmary. His leg was broken in two different places.

"What did you get?" Benji asked. We looked almost like brothers, but his dark skin and even darker hair were the only difference in our features. I looked down at the tray of food I had brought to the table.

"Some kind of spinach, stale bread and a pound of chef's famous lasagna. You?"

Benji motioned to his plate. "Just a few scraps of pot roast I managed to steal from the Admiral 's plate." Valdez moved over to make room for Val. The two girls of the squad didn't look similar at all - Valdez was Latino, and somehow managed to keep her dark hair longer than most in the UNSC. Val had blond hair and a pale face. But both of them were built like soldiers. Hell, Valdez was able to lift a Worthog off of Dante.

"Do you know when we'll get our next mission?" Valdez asked.

"Not sure. Whatever Benjamin found, it was worth something. They're analyzing it now." I said as I stuffed the last of my food into my mouth.

"I heard the covvies are pulling back... we might actually win this." Benji complied.

" No way! We're the ones pulling back. Those bastards have glassed more than half of UNSC occupied planets." The ship we were on, the Sovereign, shifted slightly.

"Prepare to leave gravity well." Boomed the officers on the bridge from the comms. "Next stop, Earth."


	10. Chapter 10

"Why the hell're we going to Earth for?" Benji asked. "Nothin' there but ONI." The ship rocked slightly as the lights outside of the large window to my left blurred. The stars turned into streaks of light as we sped off on our way to Earth.

"Please, for safety reasons, finish any work currently in progress and head to your cabins. We implore you to sleep while we make our way. The ride will be exactly 12 hours long." Said an automated voice over the comms.

"Better be heading back then," Val said as she threw away her plate with untouched food. Valdez did the same, and eventually we all headed back to the cabins on F deck. Females to the left corridor, males on the right. Benji and I walked to bedroom that held the four men of the ODST group. Benji was on the bottom, and I got in the top bunk. I closed my eyes slightly, and instantly I fell asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

"C'mon, Adam. No time to waste. Let's go!" Benji slapped my face as my eyes fluttered open. The familiar cold, metal interior of the 6x6 sleeping quarters became less blurred as I threw off the covers and tied my boots. I put on a clean UNSC green short sleeve shirt and grabbed my military cap, heading out the door. Johnson was already out there, talking to Valdez. She had on a tight UNSC shirt, except it was a Navy blue color. Her hair was in a pony tail (as I said, longer than most UNSC operatives). Benji, Val, and I had on the same uniform. Johnson was in a clean white officers outfit, complete with multiple ribbons decorating his shirt. He also had on a white cap with gold insignia on the side. As I said, Johnson was a highly respected man, who served in many places.

"General Torri and Captain Vershov will meet us all in A wing." Val said as she straightened her dog tags. "We've landed on Earth." I looked out the large window on the promenade deck. It's blue oceans and green landscape was so large it all didn't fit in one image. Only the bottom left of the planet was visible from the viewport, which I believed the landmass I was seeing was Africa. I was born on a large military planet called Reach, which was glassed by the covenant in 2552. My older sister was a part of a special Spartan team, called Noble. My younger brother was a pelican pilot in 2553. Both of them are dead now. I try not to let that kind of stuff get to me, but every now and then I need time to remember them. I had their dog tags; Noble 2, my sister, And Daniel, my younger brother 's tags made up two of the four dog tags I had around my neck. The other two were mine... and I wasn't going to let anyone wear mine around their neck to remember me.

"Adam? Can you hear me?" Valdez asked. She waved her hand in front of my face. "Let's go, we'll be late!" She took off down the long, dimly lit corridor with me on her heels.

Ten minutes later, the entirety of Echo squad was waiting eagerly as General Torri and Captain Vershov sat, awaiting the rest of the crew to arrive.

"Ladies and gentlemen, " the thick Russian voice of Vershov announced. "We are here at Earth for one purpose; the war with the covenant is at a close, and the majority of the Halo rings have been destroyed. I congratulate you all for your hard work and dedication to the cause of the UNSC. Let us take a moment of silence to remember those who are not here to celebrate our glorious victory with us." And as he commanded, the tire room became quiet except for a few slight sniffs of light sobs. "Now, as I was saying, with the war over, we are now resuming our normal discovery objectives of before the war. The largest ship ever constructed is awaiting a majority of you to board her in orbit on the other side of the planet. Her name, might you ask?" He had a long, dramatic pause. "The Infinity." Small amounts if chatter broke out amongst the group.

"Sounds overrated." Benji whispered next to me. "Next thing you know, Vershov is gonna' say Doctor Halsey built it herself."

"And if I read my files correctly, it was built by the famous Doctor who constructed the Spartan program; Doctor Halsey." Benji smiled.

"Hell, I think i'm gonna like it on there."

"If you're even selected to board it." Whispered Valdez beside him.

"Please check your cabins and look over the manifest. If your name is listed on the hologram, then pack your bags, because you're getting a one-way ticket around the galaxy. Dismissed!" Vershov walked off the small stage as Torri answered multiple questions from the crowd.

"Well, let's pray we all get in." Benji said as he played with his tags. "Let's go." He grabbed my shoulder and pulled me towards the elevators.

I entered the small living quarters I had been assigned to for the past two years and pulled up the manifest document on the small holographic pad in the corner of the room. I checked over the names.

My name was near the top, as well as Benji and Johnson. Eventually I found Valdez and Dante, who was going to be transported straight to the suck bay on F deck. Finally, I found Valerie near the bottom of the list.

We were all heading out together.


	12. Chapter 12

Two years later - E Deck, S.S. Infinity

"Run it again!" I yelled to Benji up in the viewing box. He pressed the red button again, and four targets sprang up into view. One was out of cover, and the other three were sticking out of metal walls. I aimed down my DMR and took my first shot, hitting one behind cover directly in the head. I discharged three round into the second target behind cover before unloading two more into the one out of cover. Without even aiming down the scope I managed to shoot the ear get between where the eye would be. Two targets started moving from one end of the firing range to the other. I aimed my rifle up and managed to get both of them with one shot as they passed each other. I unloaded my magazine and put in a fresh one, ready to shoot down more targets.

A red target popped up, and I was about to take the shot when a blue target sprang up in front of it. The blue targets were supposed to be civilians, and I wasn't supposed to shoot it. It's a good thing I missed the shot... I quickly aimed down my sight and lined up the shot, missing the civilians chowder by inches and hitting the target in the neck. A red light flashed at the top of the room, indicating all targets were taken down without any civilian casualties.

"Nice shot, Adam!" Valdez called from the viewing box. I looked up at my squad looking back down on me. Dante had healed completely and was battle - ready once again... we were only missing one soldier. Avery Johnson was killed after he helped destroy a Halo ring alongside the famous Master Chief. Spartan 117 had gone missing after the destruction of the ring. People say he's just dead, drifting in space without anyone knowing his location. But others think he's hiding, waiting for when he's needed.

"I'll be right up!" I set down the DMR on the weapon rack and headed into the elevator. It went up a few floors and stopped. I walked out and was greeted by Captain Laskey. He was seated in the main chair, accompanied by Sarah Palmer, wearing her white Scout class armor. She was pretty much his personal body guard. She was a Spartan, but not like John 117. Master Chief was like a whole different race... he could take on the entirety of the Infinity without a scratch. No, these new Spartans aren't half of what they used to be.

"Glad you could make it." Laskey said as he got up from his chair. "I'm sure your squad leader has given you the news." I looked over at Val, our new squad leader ever since Johnson.

"Sir, I was only given the time to tell Adam to meet us here... he was in the firing range, sir."

"I see," Laser responded. "Son, we may have found something you might find interesting. Palmer, show the hologram again." As he said that, a large, mini universe showed up on the center console. Up at the top right was the Infinity. Along either it were hundreds of stars as it accurately mapped the locations of the stars. "There was a distress beacon coming from a mysterious object about .2 light years away. The object is about the size of a planet, but there aren't any planets in that region. We got a recording from a smart A.I. from this large object... Cortana. We believe we may have found the location of the Master Chief." The whole room was quiet until Laskey spoke again.

"I want you and your team to be he first to inspect this object, corporal."


End file.
